Because of some events that happened in my life several years ago, I was forced to get involved with local government. Local government like the zoning board, my councilman and the then-mayor of Warwick. To this date, almost five years later, my case is still not resolved.

It has been a long arduous process. With front page stories in the two leading newspapers in the area and coverage on a prominent news show, you might think that I would have had success in solving my case. I have not.

As I sat at the finance meeting for Warwick on Tuesday evening it was clear why. Government moves slow – really slow. The meeting was to pass a contract between the City of Warwick and the firefighters.

It started at 5 pm. I sat there and listened as the mayor’s chief of staff presented the contract to the councilman. It was clear he had rehearsed his presentation. In his defense, it was quite good. There were some big – very big – underlying problems. To start with, the mayor himself wasn’t there. I couldn’t help but wonder why he wouldn’t be. I was there last March when he gave his “State of the City” address. It was a dynamic speech and, although it didn’t bear good news, I felt that Mayor Solomon was ready to take on the problems. He likened our city to a sinking ship and himself as the captain. I felt confident that he would and could help our fair city. Now on the eve of a long disputed contract negotiation, that he was pushing, he was nowhere to be found.

In addition, the cities actuaries weren’t present. How could the citizens understand the risk involved with this contract if the people we hire to assess it aren’t available for questions? There were a group of men, some lawyers and some finance guys that answered questions. It didn’t seem like any one person knew the answers as they kept tagging off to answer the questions of the councilman and general public. Several well-known watchdogs in Warwick punched holes in the contract – big holes. They pointed out discrepancies that wouldn’t be obvious to the average citizen. They walked us through this new contract, showing how we, the taxpayers, would end up worse off than we were. It was simply, unsustainably long-term. There were typos, things that weren’t written clearly and some things were just plain missing.

As I sat there I couldn’t help but notice a few things. First, I noticed that two councilmen didn’t bother to get there until well into the meeting – over three hours late to be exact. How can you say you are here to support your constituents and not even be on time for such an important meeting? Some of the council people looked bored and were yawning and whispering to each other. It reminded me of a school assembly. You know the one where you are happy to be out of class but bored with the subject.

The meeting went on for over five hours. One side of the room was packed with firefighters eager to get the contract passed. At times they were unruly. Not once did one of them get up to talk and defend why they thought they deserved what was given to them in the contract. The head of the finance committee, Ed Ladouceur, did his best to control the crowd and facilitate the meeting.

The second thing I noticed is that there were only a handful of Warwick citizens. I get it, spending a cold Thursday listening to a contract being dissected wasn’t fun. At times it was like watching paint dry. But if you believe in democracy and you want things done in your city, you need to show up. Sitting home and complaining about results that you made no attempt to change just doesn’t cut it.

If you weren’t at the meeting, take a few minutes to call your councilperson and find out how they intend to vote on this contract. This will not only effect our immediate future but also your children’s and grandchildren’s future. Inattention to detail is what got us in the mess to begin with. Let’s not let it happen again.

As I drove home in the cold, dark night I asked myself a question. Was I better off being ignorant, sitting home and thinking that someone would take care of things? The answer is no. Because of the people that took the time to show up, the contract was not passed that night. Sometimes government works, but only if you show up.

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